What’s the Deal With the Clown Shoes? and Why You May Want a Pair…..

We’ve all seen these guys at the gym ……

For those of you who are not up to date on the latest fitness meets pop culture trends of the minute those are the Vibram Five Fingers...

Get it? 5 toes, they’re each separated, like fingers in a glove only it’s on your foot…get it?

They’ve become very popular in the last 2 years or so to the point where now I see people come to the gym for the first time EVER IN THEIR LIVES with Vibrams on.

I’m guessing this has a lot to do with 2 things which have seemingly acted synergistically in this time frame.

• Born To Run by Christopher McDougall

It’s a national bestseller about the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico. Long story short, these guys run….a lot. With no shoes, no rest, in awful conditions and are not jacked-up. *Full disclosure: I haven’t read the book.

and

• CrossFit: Which has EXPLODED in the last couple years..

The whole “Shoes? I don’t wear no stinking shoes” thing kinda goes along with the minimalistic approach that CrossFit endorses. Pay no attention to the Concept 2’s, and Spin bikes. I had to get my obligatory CrossFit jab in….sorry.

But I guess a minimal shoe is close to no shoe which is very cavemanish so it’s cool cause it’s totally part of a Paleo lifestyle.

CrossFit jabs aside, I have to give credit where it’s due and they totally got this one right. Minimalist shoes are the way to go…eventually.( There are dangers to just switching to these shoes from traditional footwear….)

Here’s Why:

We spend too much time in shoes that absolutely wreck our feet and consequently our bodies. From high heels,

heel wearers moved with shorter, more forceful strides than the control group, their feet perpetually in a flexed, toes-pointed position. This movement pattern continued even when the women kicked off their heels and walked barefoot. As a result, the fibers in their calf muscles had shortened and they put much greater mechanical strain on their calf muscles than the control group did.- Gretchen Reynolds NYT (emphasis mine)

to athletic shoes, our feet get smashed, crushed, and probably become weak.

Although the “weak” part and whether or not it’s a bad thing hasn’t been studied, there is a basic tenet in biomechanics that:

“True strength cannot be developed in the presence of artificially provided stability.”

I’m not sure who said that, but I think it was Prof. Zatsiorsky.

Point being, I think it’s pretty easy to see that the common high-top, extra cushion athletic shoe most people wear today is providing the stability that the foot and ankle should.

From wearing these biomechanically nightmarish shoes our ankles become tight, calves and Achilles tendons shorten, this forces EVERY JOINT throughout the rest of the kinetic chain to pick up the slack and compensate for those adaptations that have happened simply from wearing “regular” shoes.

I know it sounds ridiculous but most shoes we wear really suck and probably contribute to a lot of knee, hip, back and neck pain.

So Here’s the Deal:

We should probably ditch the typical extra high, extra cushion athletic shoes, especially when we lift.

First off minimalist shoes are  probably better for your feet, ankles, knees, hips etc. etc.

Secondly, you’ll lift better in harder flat soled shoes.

For years everyone from those who were actually strong to those who wanted to be strong wore Converse Chuck Taylors. Mostly because Lou Simmons said to do it, “As far as shoes go, Converse Chuck Taylor’s are best”…and everybody at Westside did it.

It wasn’t total BS or sponsorship, he did have his reasons.

They are flat as hell and have some hard ass soles.

The advantage’s are:

1. Your foot is flat in the shoe, you’ll feel more “locked” in without the cushioning in the shoe changing and deforming as you press into the floor.

1. Biomechanically you’ll begin movements with a vertical tibia (shin), I’ve found this helps most people minimize tibial shear…ie NOT using the knees and maximizes using the hips.

The other advantage of the Chuck Taylor is they’re cheap….I got my first pair for $25 and bought my last pair for $40. That said, The’ve become more popular now and I think they go for $65.

The major drawbacks to the Chucks are that they uncomfortable as hell and they are not flexible at all on the bottom.

This means that while they are great for Squats, Benches and Deadlifts they suck for anything on one foot or moving.

Try sprints or doing walking lunges in them and you’ll understand.

That caused lots of people to change their shoes to more flexible but usually not as hard soled shoes like Nike Frees. Actually, I don’t know if people did this but I did….. for 2 years. Or I would group all my squats and deadlifts together and my “moving” lower body lifts together so I didn’t have to change.

Thankfully all this changed with the New Balance Minimus training shoe.

I heart them…..

They have a nice low profile with virtually no sole but their biggest advantage is that they found a nice balance between hardness and stiffness in the sole.

While they don’t have the hardness of Chucks or the flexibility of Nike Frees they are only a half step down from each in both categories which is awesome because I can wear them ALL day to work in and while I train. I don’t have to worry about changing shoes or dealing with the mid foot cramps that Chucks cause or my foot moving in the shoe like with regular shoes.

If you’re looking for a great all around shoe to weight train in the New Balance Minimus is the best I’ve used.

Here’s what you should do:

Buy some better shoes. Go minimalist, but not all the way all at once.

If you’ve been living, working and training in heels, athletic shoes and typical running shoes you’ve adapted to that. You’ll have weak feet, shortened calves and Achilles tendons.

Going straight to something as flat and hard as the Vibrams will put an amazing amount of stress on these structures and could lead to some sprains and/ or strains.

Why be stupid and get hurt?

Instead, I would start with doing warmup and mobility drills barefoot for a couple of weeks along with a go between shoe like the Nike Free 5.0 which still has some cushion and heel lift to acclimate, then move to the Nike Free 3.o which is a little more flexible and lower. Then onto the New Balance Minimus and from there into something like the Vibrams.

That strategy should allow your feet to gradually strengthen, calves gradually stretch out and lengthen and Achilles get back to a “normal” length all of which would be protective against potential foot and ankle injuries.

Yes, at first your feet will hurt like hell.

Like any muscle group they’ll get stronger and the pain will leave.

* While writing this article I discovered that the Minimus now comes in variances in “heel drop” similar to the Nike Free. Meaning the higher the number the more support. I’ve never worn anything but the cross training version so while I’m guessing they’re great shoes and would be a very good alternative to the Nike Free’s if you’re trying to safely step down from a typical athletic shoe to the minimalist kind. I haven’t used them but thought you should know they are out there.